NYU Student Project to Donate Leftover MetroCard Money

Published on December 21, 2011.

You know that MetroCard that has been at the bottom of your bag for a couple of months? That, plus the hundreds of thousands of cards that get thrown away with some tiny value remaining, can add up to an annual $52 million in unused value.

Three students in New York University's Interactive Communications Program are determined to put that staggering amount to work. They created MetroChange, a high-tech kiosk that uses Arduino, an ethernet shield and transmitters to read the value on the card and give you an option to donate that money.

The goal is to donate the total amount to a specific charity at the end of every month. The kiosk will also recycle cards.

The students recently created a working prototype for the ITP Winter Show and are looking for partners to help them make their idea a reality.